Archive for the ‘Health & Wellness’ Category
Monday, March 1st, 2010
As the East coast shovels out from yet another brutal winter storm, and places as far south as Florida see snow, many of us are left to wonder exactly how much longer winter can last. The shorter days and limited sunshine can leave people depressed, lethargic, and illness-prone, looking for something to give them a boost that will carry them to the longer, warmer, sunshine-filled days of spring and summer.
Massage therapy, of course, can be a great way to break out of the winter doldrums and re-claim some of the energy that winter has taken.
As this article from The Beacon News in Chicago states, massage therapy is about more than feeling energetic. As a large portion of illness is stress-related, massage therapy (and its stress-busting capabilities) can be an extremely important factor in guarding your health.
And, of course, massage therapy’s proven effect of increasing circulation and boosting endorphin levels means that a massage will definitely help kick that winter funk and give the recipient a much-needed sense of wellness to combat the cold.
Massage therapy is valuable year-round, to many different groups of people. But now, with winter holding on for what seems like an interminable amount of time, massage therapy can be a great way to boost your mood, health and give yourself the energy to shovel the rest of winter away.
Tags: cold, depression, funk, gift, health, massage, massage therapy, relaxation, snow, stress, winter
Posted in Health & Wellness | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 9th, 2010
A lot of content seems to appear around the holidays for massage therapy-related services, for Christmas, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, even Valentine’s Day. Advertisements and articles about gifts and gestures that couples can give each other for Valentine’s Day extend to massage therapy, such as this article from a community Web page in Maryland.
The idea is that, on Valentine’s Day, partners can learn the art of massage therapy to treat their significant other with a massage that is not only personal, but also somewhat professional. While a sweet idea, I think there is a potentially serious flaw in the gift idea of massage therapy for Valentine’s Day. (more…)
Tags: gift, holiday, massage, massage therapy, Valentine, Valentine's Day
Posted in Health & Wellness, holiday, massage | No Comments »
Thursday, February 4th, 2010
Massage therapy can have tremendous benefits for people generally, for example, in dealing with stress (see last week’s entry). But massage’s therapeutic benefits extend to specific groups of people as well. This week I want to focus on how massage therapy can help improve the symptoms and general condition of women with breast cancer.
(more…)
Tags: breast cancer, cancer, health, massage, massage therapy, pain, women
Posted in Health & Wellness, Pain Management | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010
Continuing on with our blog’s often-explored theme of the benefits of massage therapy for mankind, today’s blog focuses on an element that affects nearly all humans and that massage therapy has a great track record of treating effectively. That element is: stress.
To start off, check out this article from The Massage Advancer, which obviously is a little biased in favor of massage therapy. (more…)
Tags: anxiety, health, massage, massage therapy, pain, repetitive stress injury, stress, tension
Posted in Health & Wellness, Pain Management, Stress Reduction, massage | 1 Comment »
Thursday, January 21st, 2010
Over the past few weeks, I have written about the therapeutic benefits of massage therapy, specifically for infants and adolescents. Now I want to focus on the therapeutic benefits of massage therapy for all people, children and adults.
This entry will be about jaw pain and ways massage therapy can help combat it. (more…)
Tags: ethics, health, massage, massage therapy, muscle pain, pain, trigger point
Posted in Health & Wellness, Pain Management, massage | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 12th, 2010
Last week I wrote about a study posted on the Touch Research Institute’s Web site about the effect massage therapy and touch can have on infants (massage therapy, according to the study, was shown to improve responsiveness among infants. Click to see my post).
This week I want to focus on a different study, also posted on the Touch Research Institute’s Web site, but available, for free, online as well (click here). This study focuses on massage therapy’s effectiveness in decreasing rates of aggression among adolescents.
(more…)
Tags: adolescent aggression, anxiety, chair massage, health, massage, massage therapy, relaxation
Posted in Health & Wellness, Stress Reduction, massage | No Comments »
Friday, January 8th, 2010
This blog has been used a lot over the past year and a half of its existence to trumpet the therapeutic benefits of massage. And while this is a good site to find yet another ailment that massage therapy can help cure, the Touch Research Institute is the gold mine of scientific research into the therapeutic benefits of massage therapy.
This week I’m writing about another study from their resources, this one demonstrating the benefits of touch and massage therapy among infants. (more…)
Tags: health, infant massage, massage, massage therapy, newborn, responsiveness
Posted in Health & Wellness, massage | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, December 29th, 2009
After lots of posts about the holidays, NFL stars, and ethics in massage therapy, I want to return to a subject that I think this blog does best: the therapeutic benefits of massage therapy.
After all, massage therapy’s benefits to people’s health are great. Thus far we have featured blogs about massage therapy and its ability to alleviate trigger points, symptoms of old age, allergies, eating disorders, stress, and the list goes on and on.
Today I want to write about neck pain and massage therapy’s effectiveness in treating it. (more…)
Tags: health, massage, massage therapy, muscle pain, neck, neck pain, pain
Posted in Health & Wellness, Pain Management, massage | No Comments »
Friday, December 18th, 2009
We already wrote about the medicinal benefits of aromatherapy, coupled with massage therapy, over a year ago (see post). As it says in that entry, aromatherapy and massage can be used (and has been clinically proven) to reduce stress levels and help the immune system.
But in that entry, we glossed over the fact that making massage oils and aromatherapy oils can be a very easy task. Follow the directions below, and start adding aromatherapy to your chair and table massage sessions. It is a great addition to the many benefits that massage therapy already offers. (more…)
Tags: aromatherapy, chair massage, health, immune system, massage, massage therapy, relaxation, stress, table massage, tension
Posted in Health & Wellness, Pain Management, Stress Reduction, massage | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
DISCLAIMER: I know in my previous blog I said I would offer some solutions for personal and professional boundary transference, but I wanted to squeeze in a quick entry about Thanksgiving and the holidays first. Please look for the blog I promised some time next week. Happy Thanksgiving!
Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, pie – and a whole mess of sides – can pretty much take up the entire Thanksgiving holiday weekend. First, there’s the time it takes to prepare all these dishes. Then there’s the devouring of them all. Then the recovery from the feast. Then the clean up. Then the non-stop football and leftovers.
With so much personal indulgence, it seems like a silly idea to mention the prospect of another indulgence, massage therapy, as part of your Thanksgiving routine. But there are some compelling reasons to do so. (more…)
Tags: Christmas, gift, holiday, massage, massage therapy, stress, Stress Reduction, Thanksgiving
Posted in Health & Wellness, Stress Reduction, holiday, massage | No Comments »